Toxic

The world has lost its mind.

You may still be living in a fantasy… or maybe your head is in the proverbial sand.

But,

The world has definitely lost its mind.

I could monologue about a whole lot of trivia… or a whole lot of tragedies… or a whole lot of the good that goes unreported by a media machine that largely gorges itself on everything that is wrong in the world and then pretends that they do it for our good… instead of the ratings that keep them swimming in loot.

But, as always, I’ll just focus for this short while on one topic that seems to be getting an inordinate amount of attention lately.

So, I’ll out with it now:

Toxic Masculinity… oooohh! (cue dark clouds, lightning, thunder and the gasps of the victimized masses)

Now, please don’t get your chonies all in a wad… at least not yet.

I want to go on before you tune me out.

There is a segment of our society that just can’t seem to deal with reality anymore. They can’t stomach dialog, nor discussion, nor argument (productive argument), nor negotiation or compromise. It would seem that the days of agreeing to disagree and living in peace are no more.

I cannot speak for any one of you and I would not condescend to do so anyway. I am only speaking for myself. You can hate me or call me names or categorize me or write me off, but ultimately I don’t care. I’ve made up my mind that there are some in this world who simply don’t want peace. Some people simply want to rule the rest of us and would attempt to force us into a space where tolerance doesn’t exist.

Instead, these people want us to accept whatever their momentary, relativistic views are. They want us to say that lies are the truth and that the truth is a pack of lies.

One lie that is now being told to the males of this world… yes, in fact there are still males out there. And yes we’re males because God made us that way. We in fact have the… ahem! (cough!) … plumbing that proves it. (Contrary to those who falsely claim that gender is in the mind, not the body)

This new lie is that we males and the behaviors and idiosyncrasies that define us as males are somehow messed up and that ultimately we need to be a whole lot more like females in order to fit.

I would refer to that as emasculation now, wouldn’t you?

Now, before you blow a gasket because this monologue is making you mad, please read on…

There is something in this fallen world that some of us know as sin. Yes, sin. According to Jesus, we have all fallen short of God’s expectations of us (Sin by the way is an ancient archery term that refers to the archer having missed his/her mark (target)) If you don’t believe in sin, then I hate to be the bearer of bad news for you but there’s not much hope for you then, because that leaves you having to define all the evil that people do based on a completely fluctuating and indefinable behavioral target. If you won’t acknowledge evil, or sin, then you also cannot identify or accept hope.

Relativism ultimately leads you to anarchy and a world with no hope.

There is only one true lasting and overriding hope that sin may be overcome and His name is Jesus.

Jesus knew that the heart of humankind could not be trusted. That is one of the core reasons that he had to die on the cross and take on all of humankinds sin. The sacrifice for sin had to be made by one who had lived a sinless life.

All that said, I, like all men am not perfect. I have sinned many times in my life. And, I have had to go before God and confess those sins and repent of them. Remember what Jesus said though, that we have all fallen short.

I will not defend the actions of men that have taken advantage of women. I will not sit here and say that “boys will be boys” and act as if we should not work to make the world a better, safer place for the women and girls.

However, I will also not be categorized once again and shoved into a corner where we men either kowtow to the me too movement as if we are all guilty, or be forced to sit down and shut up.

Simply put, there have been, are now and will be many great men in this world. We come in all shapes and sizes. Some of us are average and ordinary. Some of us join the military and go off to defend those who need defending or destroy those who are committing all sorts of evil against the weak. Some of us are first responders, running towards danger or disaster to stand in the gap for those who need help. Some of us lead honorably from wherever that position of leadership takes us.

Many, many men are honorable, trustworthy and reliable people that contribute greatly to our world day after day. And, we men, we men of honor when confronted with the evils that other men do will (as always) come to the defense and aid of the females around us when the need arises.

We will not trivialize nor defend the actions of the victimizers that we have seen very much in the public eye lately in areas such as the entertainment industry, sports, politics, our places of worship or in our schools. Many of us already take an active role in ensuring that the other men around us are called out or corrected when they are behaving badly or defending those that do.   

In conclusion, if the powerful women in this world want to take an active role in ensuring that the men who behave badly are held accountable, then I and many other men do support that. However, once again we seem to have a movement that wants to hold an entire group of individuals somehow responsible for the actions of a select few. I won’t buy into that and a great many men that I’ve spoken with do in fact take offense at that. If you alienate those that you want to help further your cause by insulting them, berating them (unfairly) and lumping them in with the actual offenders as if all men and all male behavior was inherently bad, then you have contributed once again to yet another societal divide in both our country and the world.

God does not categorize sin. He says that it is all worthy of death. Our only hope is in his ability to transform hearts. If women want the men who behave badly to change then that change has to occur in the hearts and minds of those men through a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. If the women who want this transformation in men to occur would just realize that they need to enlist the help of the good men around them, then those of us who are being led by God, would be more apt to listen and more apt to get involved with being active participants in helping guide the misbehaving men around us into cleaning up their acts.

Blessed are the peacemakers…

Seize the day and go do your part in transforming the world into a better place!

Mike <><

I Miss You

Momma, I miss you.

It’s just that simple.

You never realize just how much someone means to you until you’re separated.

But there are differences in separation. Aren’t there?

Separation can be across the room. It can be around the block. It can be across the country. It can be across an ocean.

But, then there is separation across the greatest divide. When our loved ones pass across the barrier between life and death, that barrier is insurmountable from our human perspective.

Some have said that after Christ beat death at its own game that, “Death, where is thy sting?” But Despite death having been defeated on the cross of Christ, there is still the reality of grief and separation. That is real… and, that is where my family is right now… My Dad first and foremost, and then for all of my Mom’s children second, and then lastly, her friends.

We are hurting. It’s just reality. It’s just where grief takes you.

Where the lie of grief comes in is this: Nobody else is feeling this pain. Nobody else can relate to this pain.

Our Savior Jesus knows exactly the pain of our grief. The scripture explains how.

Jesus wept.

Many of us have read this verse. Many of us have seen it and not put ourselves in that moment. We haven’t let the circumstances of that moment connect with our hearts.

Jesus wept.

God understands our pain. He understands it and His promises are a part of our healing should we choose to accept them and believe that they are so very true.

I have chosen to believe in Christ as God’s only son and my (our) Savior. His death and His payment of the price for our sins gives us the grace and mercy that it takes for us to arrive at eternal life.

And, in that eternal life there are promises that He has gone before us to make us a place in which to live out eternity with Him.

Eternity is a place that scripture says will not be a place of suffering, tears or pain. We will dwell with our creator in restored eternal new bodies and we will praise Him for all He has done for us.

We will be reunited with those that we love that have also given their hearts over to Him as their Lord & Savior.

Our hope is not in medicine. Our hope is not in government. Our hope is not in mortal men or women that have claimed some false godhood or immortality. Our hope is in the only person who lived a sinless life. Our hope is in the only one who has defeated death and been raised back to life and that as life eternal!

Praise God for His son, Jesus Christ!

So, yes, I grieve the passing from this Earth, my dear mother. Even today, I am still shedding tears.

I will miss my Mom until the day when I too will let go of this mortal tent that I live in.

Until then, I will honor the life she has lived and the legacy that she has left us. I am confident that when she entered into God’s presence that she heard that which we all long to hear… “Well done my good and faithful one.”

And I know that she was embraced by the Savior that she loves.

And I know that she was surrounded and embraced by many loved ones that have gone on before her.

And she was also surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses that cheered her entry into eternal life.

May we all run this life’s race as well as she did.

That is my prayer.

Give your heart fully to God and go out to seize this day!

Sincerely, Mike <><

May We Be Found Ready

Dear Lord I know you’re near

You promised you would be

Near to the broken hearted

And you’ve never failed me

Though I would pass this cup

I know Earthly life has an end

It’s just a fact that I can’t deny

Life is a gift that you only lend

I’m afraid that like so many

I’m prone to take for granted

This precious gift you’ve given

Each of us a seed you’ve planted

All of us loved and valued

Each endowed with gifts

A lifetime to unwrap them

Living our purpose our soul lifts

And so I ask dear Lord

For an extra portion of grace

Pressed down and overflowing

So that we can finish this race

For our lives are so fragile

And good health does leave

We fight and struggle

But one day we all grieve

So when that day comes

And you call out our name

I pray we’ll be found ready

Hearts afire with Jesus’ flame

When our final breath we breathe

Whispering our last farewell

May an escort of angels carry us

To heaven where You dwell

I’m Not Burying My Head in the Sand… However…

So, here is how the story goes…

A factual account…

News Flash!! … I have political opinions… oooh! Big deal right?

Everyone does. Don’t they?

Well, I’ve made a decision for the time being…

I’m done with political talk on my social media platforms.

I know, I know… It’s about time I shut up right?!

I mean I’m so darn ignorant and never cross examine the issues, or look into fact checking sources… etc.

I am a human being as are you and yes, I am subject to failings such as bias, prejudice and stubbornness.

But, to be fair, aren’t most of us like that at least some of the time.

All that to be said, I still have opinions and if prompted I still don’t mind debating an issue (face to face) so long as the other party in the debate agrees that it is ok to have our minds changed through discussion, presenting of evidence as to the contrary points of our opinions and just realizing that we overlooked some facts.

I will keep said opinions still, but I pledge to keep them to myself.

However, don’t expect me to bury my head in the sand. Don’t expect me to just accept a lie. Don’t expect me to kowtow to “expert” opinions without solid fact to back them up. And probably more importantly to the current environment, don’t expect me to accept anyone rewriting history (ugly or not) and in that atrocity to forget the lessons that factual treatment of said history can teach us.

There are those in this current moment in history (mid-terms, 2018) that would like me to believe certain things that I know to be nothing more than propaganda by the current power wielders in our once great state. I know that their stated facts are just repeated (cut & pasted) dialog taken straight out of messages put forth by the current political powerbase.

I don’t respect borrowed opinions.

The last word I have for you has been repeatedly spoken by me over many years.

Just go vote ok?

Read up on the propositions. Read up on the politicians. Weed through the diatribe and cliché to find what facts are available and make your best educated picks on the ballots.

If you do that then, whether we agree on the issues or not, you’ll at least have the kind of respect that is given to someone who I observe has made an attempt at educating themselves before deciding.

True tolerance can only exist where we can agree to disagree and still treat each other civilly and maybe even remain as friends.

I foster no illusions that we live in probably the most divided and divisive times that I have ever observed in my lifetime. And with that happening I don’t foster much hope for recovery without God’s intervention in the hearts and minds of those on each side of the divide.

But it is in the hope in the one true God, a God of reconciliation that I do not give up hope because I know that He has overcome the World and He has already conquered death and hell. So, I still retain hope that He will make all things right in their time.

So, consider this my last hurrah on social media at large.

I want to be a catalyst for positivity, hope, love, forgiveness, peace and compassion. I don’t think that there is a law against any of those.

Peace!

Seize the day!

Mike <><

Shame

I found myself in an awkward position this week.

Don’t feel sorry for me. Trust me. In the end I don’t feel all that sorry for myself since I am the one who stuck his hand in the proverbial hornet’s nest.

It seemed so innocent at the time. I just wanted to point out that so many of us these days like to rewrite the rules to fit our own perception of how things ought to work.

You know. They should always work in our favor right?

Right?

No?

Let me just explain and maybe you’ll either feel sorry for me or you’ll side with my worst critic at the time. I don’t know.

Our daughter just started High School in the last few weeks. Her school does not offer bussing, so the children either make their own way home, or a parent has to come pick them up. Unfortunately, the way the world is nowadays, there is no way we’re letting our 14 year old daughter walk the mile or so home all alone. Not happening.

So depending on which one of us, my wife or I, is available, we drive over to the school around dismissal and wait for her. It so happens that the place I wait for her has an area of the street in front of a residential neighborhood that is painted in very large words, “KEEP CLEAR.”

Well after a few trips over I began noticing that this one particular gentleman would come basically every day and park in that painted area to await his child’s arrival.

Two things, 1) In most respects I couldn’t care less about this person’s behavior individually. I mean, he, like everyone else has the right to make whatever decisions he wants to so long as he is not physically hurting someone. 2) It was not my goal to get this person in trouble and I deliberately avoided providing any personal details when I did what I did.

Probably on the say fourth time this guy parked in front of me, I made the decision to discreetly take a photo with my camera phone that captured a small corner of the driver side rear of the car and the words “KEEP CLEAR” painted on the street clearly shown. I then posted the picture on a Facebook crime watch page for our city and basically pointed out that so many of us these days only obey the rules when it suits us. We often turn a blind eye to rules when they cause inconvenience or seem silly to our own way of seeing things. I didn’t even call it a crime, I just pointed out that many of us just don’t feel any compelling reason to obey the rules much anymore.

Again, I made an effort to not show the car’s license plate, the person’s face, or even any street signs. I just called on those who are part of our community to maybe think about more than just themselves. To respect the law and how what they do affects the other people around them.

So.

So.

So, for a little while, the responses on Facebook were in agreement, sarcastically humorous or curious as to whether this person’s behavior was really all that egregious.

Then.

Then a couple of people came on. Trolls I assume.

And, it got ugly. Way ugly.

They told me that I ought to get a life, punctuated with a few really choice 4 letter words. They schooled me on my being a dirtbag for Facebook shaming this person. And… it went on… and on… and on.

Until.

Until I decided to take down my post. I took it down after it had only been up for maybe 30 – 40 minutes. I took it down because I realized that pointing out other’s thumbing their noses at the rules wouldn’t really change anything. I realized that when people say, “If you see something, say something,” it did not refer to a minor traffic violation.

But I mainly took it down because these other Facebook users had shamed me to the point that it really stung.

It stung no matter what my intentions were.

It stung even though I was very aware of the irony of someone severely Facebook shaming me in front of my whole community.

This is what we’ve become, a society of anarchists. We write our own rules and laws and stuff our little personal constitution into the back pocket of our mind to be whipped out viciously at the slightest provocation. We won’t let anyone or anything cause us to place into question our personal beliefs or our actions. It jeopardizes our core beliefs not only about ourselves, but about our own worldview.

“Don’t you judge me!!”

We’ve truly lost our way.

Folks, this is what anarchy looks like.

All of us thinking that nobody has any right whatsoever to call us out for anything.

We make the rules or at least decide when it’s ok to cross a boundary.

And many of us wonder why our politicians feel so empowered, especially here in California to ignore us. To enact laws and taxes without providing us with our right to vote on their decisions.

It’s why they no longer truly punish those who commit crimes in California, at least if the monetary value is under $1,000. It’s why those who run our state keep creating new laws that protect the “rights” of criminals and not the victims.

Our country and our state are increasingly divided because those who rule over us do not enact justice on those who should have incurred it. We have one side who worships their false god of the “honorable thief.” A person who does not exist.

Victim’s blood cries out from the ground and these days only God hears them. Our rulers do not. And, our rulers don’t have any courage or desire to stand up to the criminals in this country and truly bring justice by executing harsh punishments that would truly bring back deterrents to future crime.

It’s as if they were not afraid that a civil war could come again. I know many in this state and in this country who would not be afraid to enter into a civil war if that’s what it took to bring back a respect for the rule of law and a respect for our country’s constitution.

As for me, I stand in the middle of that great divide.

I believe that we need to be willing to have dialog between all parties. I believe that we need to be unafraid to compromise where something could be given up that is less important. However, I also believe that we cannot live under delusions that freedom comes without cost. We equally cannot delude ourselves that big government and unsustainable programs that ride on enslaving us to unreasonable taxation in order to feed the machine are good either.

Free is a myth.

So, I learned a small but valuable lesson earlier this week. Don’t sweat the small stuff, but be ready to defend myself when a real threat occurs because there are apparently many around me who don’t believe that there are solid lines defining right and wrong anymore, nor are there many who believe that the rules should apply to them.

So for now, I’ll keep watching my back. Doing what God says is right and letting Him deal with those doing wrong around me.

Have a blessed week.

Mike <><

Judgment. Is There Anything Worse?

There’s something I’ve been pondering recently.

In a modern Western world such as ours, we tout our ability to have near instant news and communication, but we are finding that in that space there is a serious flaw.

We are often shouting into a hurricane… into a vacuum… into our own ears.

We are being ignored.

Social media and the internet with all of their greatness have ultimately betrayed us and left us empty, lonely and unheard.

It is possible to speak our thoughts and opinions and make them available to hundreds if not thousands of people in an instant, but we are faced with a painful truth that no one is listening. Or maybe no one cares or worse yet… both.

Some say that we have all become armchair quarterbacks or judges.

That’s a huge turnoff right?

To be judged.

It’s strange though. The judging.

It would seem that from listening to most everyone, that all judgment is wrong.

Is it though?

I have to ask this. If you don’t practice judgment, how can you move through your day? Your life?

The scriptures would seem to indicate that if we do not exercise judgment, good judgment, then we are foolish. Fools.

If you were a father like me. And, maybe you are. Or a mother. Would you let your child date just anyone?

If you said yes, then I have no doubt you’re lying.

You would do many things to ensure this other person was an acceptable companion for your child. You would in fact judge them.

If you hired someone to come into your home and clean it, you would want a background check to have been performed on them as well as obtaining good references regarding their current and past clients. You’d exercise good judgment.

And, if you became aware that these people were not who you thought they were. Criminals, delinquents, liars or rebels, you would let them go from employment or stop the relationship with your child.

You would. If you were a good parent, or a good consumer or business owner, you would send a person like this on their way.

It’s just good common sense. It’s just exercising good judgment.

I understand fully why we often rebel at the thought of someone judging us, judging our actions or judging the things we say. But, in many cases, whether it’s painful or not, if it’s done in love or with good intentions, having our failings or shortcomings pointed out or brought into the light is what sets us back on the path to becoming a better version of ourselves.

If it’s done in love…

You see, this is where we fall into error… if our good intentions aren’t tempered with love.

I’m not going to lie to you though. No matter how good your intentions may be and no matter how you try to soften the blows of leading someone to understand that they have strayed off the straight and narrow path to a life rightly lived, many of us having been corrected will not respond well.

To be corrected is painful. It’s potentially humiliating. It can provoke us to anger or violent outbursts where our ever so sharp tongues can wreak great destruction on anyone within hearing distance.

Judgment and the correction of those who have strayed in life will never be easy or pain free, so there begs a question.

Do we avoid making judgment and living in silence just to avoid the potential pain of rejection and anger directed at us?

Or…,

Do we in careful consideration and prayer, seek God’s guidance and wisdom to risk rejection as we seek to lead another human being into examining their own behavior, their actions, in light of God’s commands about right living?

It has become cliché to cop out by saying something like, “don’t judge me!”

If we truly love each other, we cannot afford to let one another stumble through life without taking the risks involved to help guide each other back onto God’s narrow road.

And, the only way to do this my friends…

Is judgment…

Good judgment.

Judge well my friends.

Seize the day!

Mike <><

Remade

To become something we’re not…

To be molded into the man of woman of God that He imagined us as.

To leave an indelible mark on this world for good is that not what many of us dream of in the quietness of our souls?

So many of us dream. We dream of leaving a legacy that lives on far beyond our earthly lives.

But.

Do we count the cost?

To have an impact that lasts beyond our earthly years is such a fine aspiration to have. But, have we really understood what that will demand of us?

Like many of you, I assume, I have at least occasionally dwelt on the reason for my own existence. I firmly believe that God has purpose for us. I also believe… No! I know… that God has equipped us or is continuing to equip us to accomplish what He has in mind for our journey through life and the impacts that He intends for us.

Do I believe that we can fail at what God has in mind for us?

Yes. Yes, unfortunately I do.

If we spend our lives on fear, on apprehension, on cowardice, on procrastination or hesitance, yes, we could really fail at what God wants for us.

But…

You see, God is far above and beyond us. He is not limited by our perceived limitations and He has said in scripture that through our weaknesses His strength shines through.

Can we fail? Yes. But for those that love Him… our failures are not the end. He will accomplish His goodness despite our failings.

We are told to fear not because He has overcome the world.

The real question is this. Are we willing to let go of our fears?!

God has great things for us to accomplish. But, we can never become all He has intended until we cast off our fears and adopt the confidence and the equipping that He has for us.

I believe that our good future is there for the taking. But, it has a price.

We must leave behind all that hinders us. We must truly accept and believe that God has all that we will ever need to live the dreams He has for us. And we must take up those gifts.

If it’s armor that we need… take it up.

It it’s the right words or actions… take them up.

If it’s a powerful unshakeable faith and love… take them up.

God does not want bad things for you.

He has a future and a hope for you. He wants to prosper you and not harm you!

Do you believe that?!

Do you?!

Then fear not! Go out into the World and conquer it with an indomitable and unfathomable love that only a child of God, the son or daughter of the King can give to everyone we meet!

Seize the day!

Mike <><

Musing on the Twin Towers

Sometimes I feel that we torture ourselves by what we allow into our heads.

But, there are times that even though whatever we are reading, watching, or otherwise contemplating is a valuable exercise in coming to terms with the difficult so that we can refine our thinking, our opinions or our reactions to events or circumstances in the future.

Let me explain by an example from tonight.

Julie and I watched a documentary type show on Amazon video. I believe that it was called, “The Falling Man.”

The program focused on the events of 9/11 and more specifically, the poor souls that chose to jump from the Twin Towers over burning to death instead.

The show centered itself around the pictures of one man who’s jump was captured by a photo journalist and subsequently published worldwide in many newspapers.

One interview was with a woman who was contacted via phone just after one of the towers was hit by a plane. The call came from her husband who was trapped along with several other people in a conference room.

I found it unbearable at one moment as this woman described the changing emotions she went through as she talked with her husband and suddenly realized that he was essentially calling to say goodbye.

When she lost it and began sobbing, I too was brought to tears.

This is a scar for her that will ultimately never fully heal here on Earth.

And, isn’t that the way of things?

Try as we might, in our human frailty, though we may find the pain softened somewhat over the years, it never fully disappears from our memory. And, often there are triggers that will bring that old pain boiling right back to the surface of our hearts and we live that pain again.

We can forgive, but often not forget. We can develop scars, but they can be reopened. We can choose to remember the good times, but sometimes the bad memories flood back in to temporarily overwhelm us.

But the point I am trying to make is this: Sometimes we must remember the bad, so that we can better appreciate the good.

Sometimes we must face the ugliness in history, both personal and corporate, so that we can rekindle the fire to somehow avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

To take the lessons of our history and view them at all angles is to avoid the insanity of doing the same things over and over again, expecting in all ridiculousness that they will turn out differently.

Isn’t this in all fairness why we should never revise history and its written record?!

This is why I love the Bible and the scriptures. God did not revise the history of the Jewish people as He gave it to those who wrote it down for us. All the good, bad and ugly is still there. The family tree of Jesus reveals that He had some pretty colorful characters in the lineup of His ancestors.

And yet, God used people, warts and all to further His purposes to save us from ourselves.

He loved us (loves us) right where we were (where we are) and saved us while we were still wallowing in our sin.

Had God revised history and swept the truth under history’s rug, then we would have no reason or understanding that God could take our broken lives and make something good out of them despite us and our failings.

So, in the end, I am thankful for God for not candy coating our spiritual legacy and past.

But the lesson I take in the here and now with our current human history, away from the Bible, is this:

We must preserve the truth of our past no matter how distasteful and ugly it may appear, so that we can understand the depths of our failures as well as the heroism of those who rose above their challenges at the time.

Just something to ponder.

Sincerely,

Mike Meehan

<>< 

Censored

Sometimes I just have to shake my head…

SMH…

You see, well, I’m a writer…

Or I aspire to be that is.

And, as an aspiring writer, I probably do more than my fair share of contemplating.

Also, I suffer from a malady that I can’t quite figure if anyone else has?

An over developed sense of justice and fair play.

Trust me, this is not a very good malady to have. Especially if you live in the real world where even our courts don’t really pursue justice…

No, really… I had a lawyer actually explain to me that it’s not about justice… It’s about winning!!

I didn’t need to have him explain this to me after watching the trial I was a part of once. From the juror’s box, I was disheartened to watch as a victim was further victimized and where the witnesses’ credibility was systematically destroyed.

We live in perilous times…

I have had more than one person say to me over the last few years that I should watch what I say. That I should just step away from controversy and from opining.

But, well… I just can’t… It’s just not me.

And, I think it’s disingenuous… false.

Yes, as I’ve gotten older, I have sometimes seen the wisdom in being silent.

After all, God gave us two eyes, two ears and only one mouth. So, well… we should listen and observe twice as much as we speak. I get it.

But, if the truth is not spoken and we sit in silence as many around us buy into myths, buy into lies and imitation logic, what is one to do.

The scriptures tell us not to throw pearls to swine and I believe we must sometimes cut our losses for sure, but when we feel the tug to put the truth out there, should we really keep silent?!

Even if the truth is put out there in love and genuine concern for others to at least ponder the truth for themselves?

I strongly believe that  silence in the face of untruth and evil in all of it’s guises and manifestations, that is one of the deepest forms of evil…

Silence kills…

If you see something, well, cliché or not, you should say something!

If the emperor has no clothes, somebody needs to point it out.

So, for those who would rather have me be silent…

I take responsibility for what leaves my lips… or my keyboard. I’m Ok with that.

And I’m Ok if someone schools me and I have to admit I’m wrong on occasion. It takes real courage to admit one is wrong and if someone points out an error in my thinking or beliefs, I’m alright with that once I’ve digested the evidence of my own errors.

We cannot progress together as a human race if we’re not open to admitting when we’re wrong, right?

So, as for me… I’ll keep writing and occasionally share my own thoughts and opinions. Outlawed or not.

I’ve said it before.

If the truth becomes illegal… well then, slap me in irons. I’d rather speak the truth and be imprisoned for it then to live in a prison of lies, illogic and ignorance…

It would seem to me that today, many people would rather live in their comfortable prisons… 

Heavy

Dear Lord Jesus

My heart is weighed down

Can’t look away

For there is no “safe” town

Headlines scream for attention

Outcry rises above the spin

Same song, different verse

But still we fall to sin

We rant, and we rave

Make laws and pass bills

But hearts we can’t legislate

So still we swallow bitter pills

No solution comes to mind

And no relief is in sight

Some hide in their despair

No hope comes without light

Triggers and ammo

Carbon and steel

Inanimate objects

Just can’t feel

Who is really at fault?

Always blame to anoint

But it’s never that easy

Always another viewpoint

Try as we might

With longing we may strive

The solutions are elusive

Never seem to arrive

When our hope is in ruins

Each answer becomes a question mark

And each win turns to failure

How did the World become so dark?

Can the answers ever be found?

Or is destruction all that’s left?

Families divided and fighting

Of our civility we’re bereft

So hard to see the sun sometimes

But, out of the weeping comes a song

And out of the silence comes a whisper

Prayers seeking for the peace we all long

And, if we pray, there is someone listening

To repentant hearts His ear turns

So my prayers have changed

Raised up to our maker as the World burns

No longer praying for leaders alone

My heart cry is for a changed nation

For the lost and longing

For despair reborn to elation

So Dear Lord Jesus

May the heartbroken find peace

May their joy one day return

And may their tears one day cease